Korea-bound Galaxy S5 LTE-A spotted with new back panel; benchmarks in tow

With the official Samsung announcement of the Galaxy S5 LTE-A only three days old, Korean carrier KT has made its Special Edition of the phone public. This Special Edition S5 LTE-A retains the 5.1 inch WQHD Super AMOLED display and Snapdragon 805 processor, but it comes with strikingly snake-like rear panel. Providing this “diamond” back in addition to the standard perforated back is evidence enough that Samsung is committed to meeting its customers needs; if only in South Korea for the time being.

In other news, purported benchmarks of the Galaxy S5 LTE-A (under model number: SM-G906S) have come to light, and show the Adreno 420, Snapdragon 805, and 3GB of RAM in action. As can be seen below, there is not the marked difference that one would have anticipated from the new chipset. With reference to the performance of other QHD smartphones, it might be inferred that such a high-quality screen does actually inhibit the processor – as seen with the LG G3.

In any event, it is entirely possible that these numbers are not representative of what the phone will bring to the table when it goes on sale in South Korea. It’s also interesting to wonder whether the appearance of this Special Edition Galaxy S5 LTE-A has any implications on other markets receiving a variant of the handset.